The present invention relates to a double bearing type fishing reel, and more particularly, to a drag arrangement in the double bearing type fishing reel.
A double bearing type fishing reel generally provides a pair of side frames each providing a bearing, and a spool shaft extending between the side frames and rotatably supported by the bearings. A conventional drag arrangement in the double bearing type fishing reel is provided over a spool shaft as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-31898. Another type of drag arrangement is provided at a handle shaft for selectively allowing a brake disc to be brought into pressure contact with one of a spool and a master gear for drag braking operation by manipulation of a manual lever.
According to the drag arrangement, the fishing line winding force is determined by the drag force. After the fishing line releasing operation, the fish taking the bait and captured is allowed to freely swim in the water while a predetermined drag force is applied to the reel, so that the captured fish will be weakened. When the operator intends to wind up the fishing line, the operator must manipulate the drag lever to cancel the drag force so as to minimize the rotational resistance given by the drag arrangement. In this connection, it would be rather troublesome to manipulate the manual lever in accordance with the fishing line releasing and winding operations.
Further, according to the conventional type of drag arrangement, since the brake disc is in selective contact with the spool, a relatively large force is applied to the bearing which rotatably supports the spool, so that a large force is required for winding the fishing line, resulting in that the durability of the bearing may be degraded. This drawback is also recognizable according to other drag arrangements disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Kokai Nos. 59-90373 and 61-80688.
Still another conventional drag arrangement in the double bearing type fishing reel is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Kokai No. 58-5126 and Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 62-74233. In these types of drag arrangements, the teeth of the pinion which is connected between the master gear and the spool shaft are subjected to a large load responsive to the movement of the drag washers in the axial direction of the pinion. Therefore, the pinion undergoes excessive frictional wearing.